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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27672212">if I just let go, I'll be set free</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissAgrafina/pseuds/LittleMissAgrafina'>LittleMissAgrafina</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Comfortember 2020 [19]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Forehead Kisses, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Irondad, Men Crying, No sir'ee, No toxic masculinity in my house, Peter Parker Feels, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Platonic Kisses, Poor Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is a Good Dad, breakdown - Freeform, spiderson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:16:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>802</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27672212</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissAgrafina/pseuds/LittleMissAgrafina</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sobs shook the teen's frame, boulders and rocks splintering down in a landslide as he broke. In a distant part of his brain, Peter felt strong arms slip around him, sheltering him and protecting him as stray kisses were peppered in his curls. They caught the boulders, settled the mountain, and oh so gently helped it to collapse down to a mole hill.</p><p>A calloused hand lifted his chin. "It's okay, Bubba, it's okay. You don't have to carry it alone." Tony whispered to him, a sad smile curling his lips. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Comfortember Day 22. Platonic Kisses</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Comfortember 2020 [19]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995808</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>137</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Comfortember 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>if I just let go, I'll be set free</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote this during a bit of a bad mindset back when I first started writing some of these prompts in September so I honestly don't really know if this makes a lot of sense. Hope you guys like it anyway:)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Heavy.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>It was all Peter felt. Like he had thousands of tons staking up higher and higher on his shoulders with everything that he did.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>It was like the warehouse was falling, collapsing over him yet again. Only this time it was in slow motion. Each broken piece of concrete pressing down until he couldn't breath, until he was almost falling to his knees, before it would settle and he would get used to it. Then he would stand back up again and move on as if nothing had happened. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>But his footsteps dragged, they slowed.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>It was still heavy, after all. Still a weight that made his body ache.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He went to school and the late or half completed homework sitting in his backpack weighed him down. Each paper was like a boulder.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He spoke to Ned and MJ but could hardly remember what they or he had said, his mind blinking in and out, filled with fuzzy cotton. Peter felt as if he was either seconds from drifting off into space or from the ground caving in under his feet, the weight of him finally splintering and destroying the fragile ground he desperately tried to stay sure footed on.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He patrolled and each cry, sneer, laugh, smile, or bullet ricocheting and adding themselves to the pile that tightened his shoulders. The lives and crimes he couldn't save or stop bearing down impossibly more with each failure. It was so heavy.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He went home to May, sweet sweet May, who tried so hard to be strong and worked so hard for them. He hated it. Hated the exhaustion written all over her body with each shift that ended, each job that she finally got back home to the apartment from. The worry and stress when it came time to pay bills and fees. She wasn't meant to be heavy, she was supposed to be light, to be happy. So Peter gave his own happy to her.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She needed it more than him after all.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Peter went to the lab. He helped update or fix his suit and sometimes he even helped Mr. Stark with one of the Iron Man suit marks. But then he had to go and mess it up like he always did. He messed everything up in the end.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Accidentally soldering one of the gauntlet's finger joints was the final straw on the mountain that had built itself a home on Peter's shoulders. He dropped the soldering iron, apologies and promises not to make a mistake again falling from his mouth just as fast as the tears that fell from his closed eyes.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Sobs shook the teen's frame, boulders and rocks splintering down in a landslide as he broke. In a distant part of his brain, Peter felt strong arms slip around him, sheltering him and protecting him as stray kisses were peppered in his curls. They caught the boulders, settled the mountain, and oh so gently helped it to collapse down to a molehill.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>A calloused hand lifted his chin. "It's okay, Bubba, it's okay. You don't have to carry it alone." Tony whispered to him, a sad smile curling his lips. As much as it painted him he couldn't help but be grateful that Peter had finally broken and let the weight he carried fall from his shoulders.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Pressing a soft kiss to his kid's tear streaked cheeks, Tony pulled him closer, holding him tightly as Peter's sobs slowed to hitched breaths.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Another kiss, his forehead this time. "I'm here, Petey, always here. We all are."</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Peter whimpered. <em> No! </em> He wanted to scream, to cry. <em> You don't need my weight! It's mine, I can't burden you with it! </em>The thought of anyone he cared about having to carry it instead of him terrified Peter.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Almost reading his thoughts, Tony smoothed a hand over his back, a kiss pressed into his curls again. "I'll always help you hold it for a while, Peter. You deserve to have a break, to be able to rest and feel light. I will lend you a shoulder whenever you need it and I know May, Ned, and MJ would too."</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Peter didn't want to believe it.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy too. We love you, Kid, we only want you to be okay."</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Peter didn't want to believe it but he <em> did </em>as well. He so desperately wanted to be able to believe that they would help him, that they wouldn't leave him once they found out just how heavy he was. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>But maybe just this once was okay, right? He could let himself believe a little, see if it was true.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Tony promised he would hold him, help him, he wouldn't lie would he? He's Tony Stark, why would he need to lie.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>So Peter let himself believe.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Just this once.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a heads up, I'm going to be editing and reposting these a day or two after the og posting once my beta/s have had time to edit and check them over for me. There won't be massive changes I don't think but I just wanted to put it out there lol</p></blockquote></div></div>
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